Miko Magic
by kitsune's miko
Summary: What happens when Yusuke and Kuwabara run into a girl at the park who knows all about youkai and can even fight.  And why does she look so familiar to a few members of the spirit taichi.
1. Chapter 1

"Inuyasha SIT!" A feminine voice shrieked followed by a muffled crash and a small puff of dirt.

"Bitch" Inuyasha cursed. His subjugation beads glowed softly as he was forced back into the ground.

"I already told you Inuyasha I need to go back home. I have tests to take and my family's probably worried about me by now." Kagome knelt down by the irate hanyou and brought her voice down to a more gentle tone. "They haven't seen me in nearly three weeks. I'll only be gone for three days, okay?"

"Feh. Whatever wench just don't forget to bring back more ramen this time." He growled at the young school girl and turned his nose to the air. Giving one last sniff he disappeared into the forest, probably on his way back to the village.

Closing her eyes Kagome breathed out a sigh of relief. Just taking a breath of the fresh pollutant free air was enough to relax the tense muscle in her shoulders. She loved the hanyou. She really and truly did, but he could be a bit overbearing at times.

Opening her eyes she admired the already ancient oak trees. This was one of the things she missed the most when she returned to her time she mused as the wind teased the leaves. Moving on to the dry well the miko in training caught a flash of silver mixed among the glossy leaves.

'_Inuyasha'_ she smiled. She'd been traveling to this era for almost a year now, receiving training from both Kaede-baa-chan and Miroku-sama, and he still didn't trust her to walk the short distance to the well without getting into trouble.

"Don't you dare follow me Inuyasha." Kagome scolded. "I'll be back in three days, I promise." Glancing around until she found the pair of pale golden eyes in the canopy she gave a small wave and jumped into the dried up well.

The only reaction seen from the still figure hiding in the trees was a twitch of one fluffy ear at the flash of blue magic before he disappeared in a flash of white.

**I probably should be uploading my first story but I like writing longer chapter for that and I just haven't found the time for it with all of my class's. This is going to be more manageable because it's only going to be short little things for each chapter… Any who please read and review.**


	2. Chapter 2

He'd been following their little rag tag group around for a week and he had narrowed down his target to the little female of the group. She was the one he wanted. She was the one with the shikon jewel shards.

No he did not want the shards for their power, not at all. In fact he scorned the weak minded simpletons who made it their life goal to gain the shards to increase their power. He wanted the jewel because everyone else wanted them, and being the good little thief he was he had to steal the shards before anyone else did.

He needed to conduct more research before he did anything else though. That little disappearing act down the well had surprised him. Yoko Kurama did not like surprises. He had heard the kitsune kit tell one of the villagers that the girl had gone home.

Maybe she lived on the other side of the well? That would certainly explain all the odd things she carried around in that big yellow bag of hers.

Well until she got back all he could do was gather some more information. Leaving a notch on his tree he got up from his perch and raced off to the village to go spy on its inhabitants.

'_Three days. Three days and those shards are mine.'_

**Hey guys. This is my way of avoiding a.p homework. I'll update the next chapter later today but please feel free to review; I really would love some constructive criticism. Later.**


	3. Chapter 3

"Kaa-san I'm home." The young time traveler greeted entering her home.

"Kagome!" A middle aged woman ran down a flight of stairs. "You're home. How long are you staying this time?" She tried to hide it but Kagome could detect the veiled worry in her mother's voice and eyes.

"Just three days. I need to catch up on some work and I wanted to see you all. Where's Souta and Jii-san?" She glanced towards the empty kitchen and living room.

"Your grandfather took Souta out to his soccer game; they should be back in time for dinner though. Would you like me to draw a bath for you?" There was nothing she could do about her daughter traveling to the warring states era, it was, after all her sacred duty. But when she was over here she would do her best to make her first born comfortable and as stress free as possible in her free time.

"Oh could you Kaa-san? I'd really appreciate it; Inuyasha hasn't let us stop at a hot spring in over a week." She gushed.

"Of course dear I'll call you down when it's ready. There's some leftover odin in the fridge if you want any."

"Arigato Kaa-san." She turned towards the kitchen as her mother headed back upstairs. Bypassing the old table she made her way to the closed fridge. Greeted with a blast of cold air as the door opened she shivered slightly before digging in to the fridge. "Odin, odin, odin." Chanting softly and shifting things around she gave a cry of joy when she found the plastic container at the back of the fridge.

Dumping the container in the microwave she closed the door with a soft bang and punched in the time. Kagome began to tap her foot impatiently as the small of the heating noodles permeated the entire room. It was going to taste so good to eat something other than ramen.

"Itai!" She screamed into her hands. She had taken a bite as soon as she had removed it from the microwave and her mouth was on fire.

"Kagome! Your bath is ready!" Her mother called out.

"All right I'm coming!" Leaving the boiling pile of odin on the table the miko in training headed upstairs. She wasn't very hungry any more. "Arigato." She thanked her mom as she left.

'_This truly is bliss.' _She thought as she lowered her sore body into the steaming water. If only she could stay in this form of bliss instead of traipsing around the feudal era.

She did her best to help her friends in the warring states but she honestly felt like she got in the way most of the time. She was the one who got injured all the time, even her mom seemed to notice them no matter how hard she tried to hide them.

Her tired body started to calm as the warm scented steam worked its magic and her eyes kept fluttering close. She stopped fighting and fell into a heavy slumber.

.~.~.~.~.~.

"Kuwabara to your left!" A young boy shouted.

"What!" An orange haired teen yelled back glancing from side to side. "I don't see anything Urameshi." His hands tightened on his strange orange sword as he shifted his stance. Fear and apprehension apparent in his stance.

"Watch out baka." Urameshi warned his companion. The demon the toddler had sent them after was a lot faster than either had anticipated, making it difficult to catch or even get a good glimpse of the creature. "It's going to escape."

"Where is it?" Kuwabara panicked and loosened his stance. "Ahhh!" He cried out in pain as the youkai raced past him, slashing his side open as it did.

"Kuwabara!" Yusuke rushed to his friends side. "Are you okay?" He helped the carrot topped giant up.

"Yea." Kuwabara groaned. "I didn't even see it coming." He brushed himself off.

"Then come on it was headed towards the park." The detective grabbed his wrist and raced off in a dead sprint.

.~.~.~.~.~.

Kagome had awoken from her impromptu nap in the bath and had, after drying off and changing, walked to the park to study. Currently she was up a tree (a habit she had developed from Inuyasha) with a textbook in her lap. She had no idea how she was going to pass the next test it was just too confusing.

"Oh for crying out loud." She whispered. Who was making all that noise down there? Moving aside the glossy foliage she peered down at the spectacle. A couple of boys were fighting a youkai and loosing judging by their appearance. The youkai had an orange haired teen pinned down with one hand; the other raised and poised to take out his throat.

Finally she had the chance to save someone instead of being saved. Grateful for Miroku and Kaede's strict training now she focused her miko ki into her hands. Concentrating she focused it into a shaky bow and pulled back, as if drawing an arrow.

"Hit the mark." She murmured her usual chant and released as an arrow spurted into life. These arrows didn't go as fast, long, or as accurate as a normal arrow because they weren't shaped quite right but they were ten times more powerful being made strictly of holy magic.

The arrow struck the unknown youkai's raised hand and he gave a grunt of pain. That grunt was followed by a shrill scream of pain as it was purified from the inside out.

Kagome jumped out of the tree landing in a crouch. "Jeeze you guys sure do make a lot of noise." Straitening up she walked over to the dropped text book. "I'm never going to get any studying done this way." Flicking a piece of slightly damp hair over her shoulder she made to leave. "Sayonara."

"Wait." The shorter of the two boys commanded. Reaching out he grabbed her shoulder and spun her around. "Just who the hell are you and what was that you just did?"

**I'll try to update sometime next week, no promises though. Ja ne minna san .**


	4. Chapter 4

"Unhand me this instant or I will do to you what I just did to that youkai." Kagome glared at him. Who did he think he was, grabbing her all of a sudden like that?

Yusuke's face paled as the youkai's shrill cries of death rang throughout his ears once again and quickly removed his hand. "What the hell did you just do?" She had popped out of nowhere and obliterated the youkai with one shot. Bringing up the question was she even human?

Kagome's eyes softened as she gazed into the confused brown eyes of the boy in front of her. "Listen here kid, just go home with your friend and forget everything you've seen here today. It will save you a lot of trouble in the long run." She patted the shocked boy on the shoulder and turned to leave once more. The sun was descending in the sky illuminating the thin clouds.

"Oi who are you calling a kid? For your information it's my job to defeat youkai. I'm a spirit detective and I'm responsible for bringing down the bad guys so I need to know, whose side are you on?" Yusuke asked with his usual tack.

Kagome laughed. "If I was your enemy do you honestly think I would have just saved your friend or tell you I was your enemy? If you really need to know I'm a miko, or at least a miko in training." She said as if that would explain everything. Glancing up at the purple and orange streaked sky the girl made a clucking sound with her tongue. "You know I'd love to stay here and talk but I got to go before my mom starts worrying about me."

Yusuke and Kuwabara stared at her with a dazed expression as she ran off. "Hey Urameshi." Kuwabara began.

"What Kuwabara?" Yusuke sighed and went to leave as well. Their job here was done and he wanted to get some video games in before the arcade closed.

"What do you think she meant by 'she didn't know that youkai still existed in this time?" Kuwabara scratched the back of his head and followed Yusuke, passing him as he thought about possible meanings.

"What do you mean? She was probably thought demons only existed in those old legends they talk about in school." Yusuke muttered. Running to catch up with his friend's swift gait the spirit detective resumed the lead. "What did you think she meant?"

"Well it's just that she must have recognized the thing immediately so she must have seen them before. She's in training to fight to, she said so, and why would she learn to fight if there was no current threat?"

"I don't know a hobby maybe. Or it could be some kind of weird family tradition." Yusuke stuffed his hands into his pockets and contemplated for a moment. He felt like there was something he should know or remember and it was dancing around at the edge of his brains, resisting all attempts at recognition. "Hey Kuwabara is there anything we forgot to do?" He asked finally giving up.

"I don't know did you have a date with Keiko, or was there something else Koenma told you to do?"

"No Keiko had to work at her parents shop today and the only order I got from the toddler today was to capture that one demon. I don't think he'll care too much if we tell him it's dead."

The two continued to walk in compatible silence for several more minutes, occasionally glancing up at the darkening horizon or the random cars that whizzed by on their way back home.

"Oh shit!" Yusuke yelled startling a pair of nearby joggers. Stumbling they glared at the youth who would dare emit such foul language. Shivering when they received a deadly glare back they turned around and continued on their route.

"What!" The second toughest punk of Sarayashiki Jr. High glanced in every which direction trying to locate the new threat. "What is it? Where is it?"  
>"We never asked the chick for her name!"<p>

**Victory! I managed to update this week! Don't know when I'll next update 'because I'm going to concentrate on my other story but I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed and I'd like to thank Fairy Demon26. I put asterisks in between seen changes and your review confused me at first so I checked on fanfiction and they didn't show up. Thanks for telling me and until next time, ja ne.**


	5. Chapter 5

"I'm leaving Kaa san, tell Souta and Jii san I said bye." Kagome said.

"Okay dear, do you have any idea of when you'll be back?"

"Whenever Inu lets me. I love you momma." The miko gave her a quick hug. Adjusting the bulky backpack she headed out the door and made her way to the old well house.

The three days had flown by pretty quickly; surprisingly Inuyasha had not passed through the well to try to force her to leave early. The young miko couldn't wait to return to her feudal friends though and tell them about the discovery of youkai in her time. If there were youkai in her time maybe some of her friends had survived to this era.

Opening the shoji door the sudden sunlight illuminated the dancing flecks of dust. Walking in she gazed down into the dark depths of the portal. Some much had happened to her because of this hunk of old wood and nails. Taking a deep breath Kagome jumped into the well, once again continuing her feudal journey.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

The master thief was hiding in the leafy canopy of his tree glancing occasionally from the old well to the three notches in the wood. It had been three days already and his plan was ready to go. The other humans and the hanyou were away at another village about a days walk from here on a rumor he had started about a shard.

A flash of blue light caught his attention. Turning towards its direction the wind shifted and brought the scent of a flower he had found while travelling across China. His eyes closed as he tried to remember what its name was. '_What __did __they __call __it__… __Zhi__zi.__' _

Whatever they called it, it didn't matter. She was here! His tail swayed in excitement of the oncoming steal.

A hideously yellow backpack was thrown over the lip of the well. His ear twitched as he heard her muttered curse floated across the wind. She'd been hanging around that filthy mutt for far too long.

His eyes shot open and darted once again to the center of the clearing to the cloth covered arm and the long pale leg that appeared as the miko hauled herself over the well. Sitting on its edge she tucked a piece of hair behind an ear and adjusted a sock.

This was his chance. Manipulating his spirit energy the yoko commanded the vines creeping around the dry well to bind his young target. An ear piercing shriek ensued, his sensitive ears pulled down to the back of his head trying to block out the high pitched noise. As an afterthought the fox ordered the foliage to bind her mouth as well.

Jumping down to the ground he watched in open amusement as the wenches struggles increased once she saw him walking towards her. "Struggling won't help you any." To reiterate his point the youkai constricted the vines even more, making it difficult to breathe. "Now are you going to scream again or can I release that gag."

The struggle in her face was evident but she nodded her head up and down, hating every minute of it.

"Good girl." He mocked her. Releasing the plant he allowed his captive to speak.

"Just who are you and what do you want?" Kagome demanded and shot her fiercest glare.

"Who I am does not concern you _miko__Sama.__" _He sneered and leveled a condescending glare down upon her. "If my purpose here isn't obvious enough then I have severely overestimated your intelligence."

"You're crazy if you think I'd willingly hand the shikon shards over to you _youkai__Sama._" Two could play at that game.

"So you're not as stupid as you look." He feigned in mock surprise. "But you are still below average intelligence if you honestly thought I would ask for the sacred shards."

Kagome's eyes widened and the sharp scent of fear entered her sweet scent. The kitsune gave a sadistic chuckle and reached out with one claw tipped to the exposed vial of purple slivers that had escaped the confines of the miko's clothes in her struggles.

As soon as he had started to grip the little glass bottle he was forced to pull back with a snarl. The little bottle was glowing with purification, slowly fizzling and fading away as he watched.

"Don't play games with me foolish ningen."

"It wasn't me. These things have a mind of their own." Kagome's struggles began anew as the kitsune in front of her grew angrier.

"Really, so these jewels are bound to you?" His tone became neutral. It was more terrifying than when his tone was laced with the venom of anger.

"Yes. So as you can see since you're not going to be able to get the jewel shards you should let me go before I'm forced to purify you." The teen leveled her best glare upon the spirit fox.

A sinister laugh spilled forth from the youkai open mouth as he let lose a full throated laugh to the sky. "You, hurt me?" He leveled a disdain filled glare upon her. "I've been watching you and your friends for over a week now and I have no idea how you people are still alive. Bumbling around the country like a bunch of vagabonds. You're not even trained in simple spirit manipulation."

"Yea well this group of vagabonds have defeated more youkai than I can count-"

"Not surprising." He interrupted.

"Saving an uncountable amount of villagers, making friends and allies along the way." She huffed at him, irritated at having been interrupted. "And we make it out alive and stronger each time."

"Then it will be a pleasure for me to break that streak of yours." He raised a lethal hand and made as to stab her heart. The jewel could not remain bound to a human corpse.

"Inuyasha!" The miko screamed, finally remembering her friend as the hand descended.

The bottle around her neck began to shake and released a flash of white light. Kurama was thrown back into a large tree. Growling he got up and stalked over to the panicking girl, ignoring her shrill cries for the mutt.

"So it would appear that the jewel has taken a liking to you. I'm curious does the jewel keep people from touching you or simply harming you?" He reached up a hand and gently ran his knuckles down one pale cheek, resting his fingers across her delicate neck. He could feel the rapid humming bird pulse beneath the soft flesh and smirked. "It would appear not. That solves that then; you're just going to have to come with me."

"What ! No!" Her protests were cut off as she fell into a dead faint. Kurama Slowly pulled his hand away from her pressure point and released his control over the plants. Catching the comatose girl as she slumped forward he tossed her over his shoulder and disappeared. The only evidence left in small clearing was a sprawled yellow bag.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

"Here you go Kaede baa chan." Shippo handed the old lady some herbs from the garden out back.

"Thank ye master Shippo, this old lady appreciates it." She patted the young kit on the head and sat down, preparing some herbs for drying and others for mixing.

"No problem. It's not like I have anything better to do around here. Stupid Inuyasha left me here and none of the other kids want to play." The kit pouted.

"Well you're welcome to stay in here if you want." The old miko absently replied.

"Arigato." Shippo shuffled over to a corner of the small hut and slumped down against the wall. After watching Kaede mix herbs for a few minutes the young kit started to make popping sounds with a digit and his mouth.

The miko winced as the small kit continued to make the irritating sound. "Maybe you should go wait for Kagome sama by the well."

"I forgot Kagome's coming back today!" The young kit cheered. "See you later Kaede baa chan." Shippo scampered off towards the woods on all fours.

The elderly woman gave a small sigh of relief and continued her medicine making in piece. Maybe she could get some work done with the troublesome little kit waiting for his friend.

Shippo sprinted to the well, visions of pocki dancing in his head. Pausing he hid in the bushes before the clearing. There was a sent in the air that made his skin call and had his instincts screaming at him to run and hide. _'__Purification.__'_

The young kit shivered in fear but peaked his head out any way. Kagome would have never used her powers unless she had to. What he saw took his breath away and made him whimper pitifully. There, lying abandoned on the ground was Kagome's big yellow back pack.

"Mama…" He took a delicate sniff, the little hackles rising on the back of his neck. He could smell another fox. "Don't worry mama I'm coming." He ran off following the scent.

** Hey guys I updated, sorry for the long wait. I'll try to make the chapters a bit longer from now on 'cause I do see the appeal in longer chapters. I'll try to update again soon, thank you to everyone who reviewed or put this in favorites/ story alerts. Ja ne ^_^**


	6. Chapter 6

She glared at her captor.

He did absolutely nothing, just continued to stare at blankly into the quivering depths of the dying fire. His tail twitched absent mindedly, the only sign of movement from the stoic youkai.

Kagome had woken up in a daze, glancing around in a drugged stupor at the rough brown walls of what appeared to be a small cave. Giving a small sigh she tried to move her hands from behind her back in another failed attempt.

Waking up and discovering you're bound and held hostage by a stranger just does wonders for your attitude. Yea right, she felt just peachy right about now.

The silver haired kitsune turned his head in her direction, finally acknowledging that she was there. "You are not going to escape so I suggest you stop that futile struggling and go back to sleep. We leave at dawn tomorrow."

"I'm not going anywhere. Inuyasha will be here to rescue me soon." She retorted. "Just you wait; he's going to kick your butt." She said with as much confidence as she could muster, but an edge of doubt still crept into her voice. Just great; how was this fox supposed to believe what she was saying if she herself didn't. Why was she questioning it, Inuyasha always came to rescue her.

"Suit yourself" Youko gave a substantial yawn. The young miko had to suppress a shiver of fear as the glowing embers illuminated wickedly sharp incisors. "You're still leaving tomorrow and I don't feel like listening to your irritating complaints all day. It might make me very upset." A loud pop echoed throughout the cave as the fire finally flickered out. Kagome didn't know what startled her more, the poorly veiled threat or the sudden ephemeral darkness that descended upon the two.

'_Oh__none__of__this__is__right.__Inuyasha,__Sango,__Miroku,__Shippo;__where__are__you?__' _A silent tear raced, unseen, down the girls cheek as she lay down to rest.

….

"Tell Inuyasha five more minutes will yea Sango?" Kagome felt something nudge her exposed shoulder.

"Get up wench."

Kagome bolted up at the familiar cold voice.

"I'm not going anywhere. I told you yesterday that Inuyasha would be here soon to rescue me." She crossed her arms and stuck one dainty nose in the air.

A low growl reverberated through his chest. "I told you not to test my patience this morning girl." He leaned over and threw her, not too gently across one bold shoulder. Obviously not a morning person.

"Put me down!" She hollered and began to pound petite fists upon his white clothed back.

"Will you stop screaming?" Youko winced, his ears folding over to the base of his skull.

"I'll scream if I want to!" Her fists started to glow with a light pink glimmer.

"You honestly think that's going to hurt me? I don't know if I should be offended or amused. I told you before that you weren't trained in spirit manipulation. How do you expect to do more than harm a few class youkai if you don't understand the basics?"

"What do you mean?" The pounding slowed and came to a halt. "Miroku and Kaede started training me."

"They have no idea what they're doing either. They just know how to move spirit energy around, sometimes there able to manifest it as something. Why do you think all the greater youkai like me are still walking around? You guys have no idea what you're doing or how you accomplish it, you just do. You are never going to improve and become stronger if you never understand the basic principles of what you are accomplishing."

She gave a small sigh of acknowledgment and tried to wrap her brain around the concept of what he was saying. It was true she didn't understand exactly what she was doing, but Miroku and Kaede couldn't explain it either. The priestess let loose a small groan and closed her eyes. She could already feel a headache coming on.

Meanwhile a watery sun struggled to push through the clouds with little success. A small kitsune kit gave a tentative sniff of the air.

"It's going to rain soon." Shippo murmured. Pulling another one of his screaming mushrooms from his coat pocket he tossed it aside near a sheltered bush. He may not like Inuyasha, and believe him to be totally inept, but he had a strong nose and cared about Kagome. Even if he was more concerned with Kikyo or jewel shards half the time. But he would lead the others until the scent trail faded and by that time they should have found his trail of mushrooms… hopefully.

Giving a heavy sigh, one that was far too weary for one his age, he continued on. Leaping over fallen trees and limbs and tossing a mushroom on occasion he ran through the dense foliage. There was no way he would stop, not until he had his Kagome back.

**Sorry that it's a short chapter, I can't write anymore my hand is killing me. High school kids really shouldn't have to worry about carpal tunnel '-_-. Just wanted to say that I was really happy with how many people liked little Shippo to rescue and to say that yes Youko will change. Kagome seems to have that effect on people, just look at Kouga and Inuyasha. Please read and review, ja.**


	7. Chapter 7

The blaring sun was riding high into the late afternoon sky as a group of weary travelers trudged down the beaten path.

"I still can't believe that youkai didn't have any shards." Inuyasha grumbled for the umpteenth time that day.

"We know, we know Inuyasha," Miroku dejectedly sighed. "At least we were able to help some villages along the way. We even made some extra money." The monk gave a contented pat to the now jingling coin purse attached to his hip.

"We only made some extra yen because you conned the village heads into giving us free rooms and meals for the night."

"My dearest Sango" Miroku feigned distress. "I'm hurt, accusing a holy man of such close-fisted crimes. What would Lady Kagome ever say if she were to hear you?"

Sango gave an un-ladylike snort. "She would say the same thing you dirty monk. If you don't believe me ask her when we get back to Kaede's village."

"That's if she's even there," the permanent scowl on Inuyasha's face deepened. "That lazy wench never leaves her home unless I go there and drag her back by force. She's always flighty, taking off when we're in the middle of our quest to go back home and take her precious tests. It's her fault we don't have all the shards yet."

Inuyasha heard a merry tinkle before Miroku's holy staff descended upon his dense skull.

"Hey!" Inuyasha barked out. "Damn it that hurt you know!" Inuyasha rubbed the tender lump forming on his head, only to wince as he nicked it with one of his claws.

"You're forgetting something Inuyasha. It's your harsh words and actions that send her away half the time."

"What the hell are you talking about now you stupid monk?" The fowl tempered hanyo glared at cracked and crumbling dirt path.

"Like you don't know" Sango glared at Inuyasha. "Sneaking off to see Kikyo all the time, comparing Kagome to Kikyo. Have you ever thought that maybe insulting her fighting and cooking skills could make her upset too?" Miroku cringed at the venom in her voice. Sango ever got this angry when she was defending Kagome.

"Well she's supposed to be Kikyo's reincarnation right? So shouldn't she be able to fight like her. Besides when do I insult her cooking? I love her ramen."

"Just forget it Inuyasha. It wouldn't do for Lady Kagome to deal with an argumentative group first thing she gets back."

"Keh whatever." Inuyasha mumbled. Forgoing any sort of apology the hanyou forged on ahead of the others.

* * *

><p>A blaring growl rent the air once again. Elongated triangular ears flattened themselves to a snowy white skull as the irritating sound grated against the foxes hearing once again.<p>

"What the hell is wrong with you, are you injured or something?" The fox whirled on the stumbling woman child behind him. Now that he thought about it the glazed look in her eyes couldn't be normal. He couldn't remember if clutching ones stomach was a normal occurrence among humans either.

"I'm hungry. You know, in need of nutritional sustenance. We weak defenseless mortals need to eat on a regularly basis." Kagome glared weakly at her captive. Not even Inuyasha drove her this hard.

"Why didn't you say anything sooner then?" The fox gave an apathetic sigh and wove a hand through his hair. "Come on based on the conditions of this atmosphere there should be some low hanging berries around here somewhere. They would be small and red, almost triangular shaped."

"Small red triangular shaped berries? Do you mean strawberries?" Her stomach gave another audible growl.

"I haven't a clue as to what you mortals call them; I just know they're edible." He leaned down and started to search among the trailing fauna. His gaze rose to meet Kagomes. "Well are you going to come help or not? You are the one who's hungry are you not?"

"Uh yea…" A blush came unbidden, leaving a pale pink trail across her cheeks and the bridge of her nose, at his unwavering gaze. Quickly shaking her head to dispel the image from her mind's eye she got on her hands and knees and started searching.

Shuffling ensued as the two searched among the leaves. Yoko was the first to spot the splash of crimson red among the brittle leaves.

"Here, hurry up and eat. We're almost at my base." He stared into the distance, probably imagining the state his camp was in.

"Doesn't matter, my friends will be here any day now." She still continued to pick the delicate little red fruit.

The spirit fox glanced at the diminutive human and scoffed. How anyone could that much faith in a few people was beyond him.

His ear twitched. A different sound than the girl behind him, what was this? It almost sounded like four running feet. Could this female be right? There were three others members in their band of shard hunters, not enough to match up with the amount of feat. But if memory served him right the slayer often rode her fire cat companion. Growling he extracted his rose and shifted into a battle ready position.

"What's wrong?" Kagome stopped what she was doing as soon as she heard the formidable sound. A gust of wind appeared blowing the foxes hair backward, the sun illuminating each silky strand.

He didn't answer, just stood there in confusion. There was no smell of sweat and blood from the hanyo, the smell he usually used to find their group. No, it almost smelled like a small kitsune.

Auburn hair glinted at the curve in the road bobbing up and down as the figure sprinted as fast as he could.

"Shippo!" Kagome would recognize the little kit anywhere. Jumping up she raced to incept the young kit.

"Kagome!" Shippo leaped into familiar arms. His heart was pounding and each gush of air was forced as he tried to catch his breath. "I've been searching for you forever. I was so scared I'd never see you again." The little boy was sobbing into her shirt, trembling with the force of his sobs.

"Shush it's okay Shippo. I'm here, every things okay now." She cuddled the young lad, offering him the only form of comfort she could. "You're such a brave boy finding me all on your own. Where are Inuyasha and the others?"

"They were away, investigating a couple of rumors. I'm sorry Kagome; I had to find you before the trail faded." His sob's renewed themselves as he confessed his failure.

"It's okay Shippo it's not your fault." Kagome hugged the kit to her chest trying to calm him down.

"So this is what you have to save you, a sniveling kit?" A silky tail switched agitatedly back and forth as the spirit fox walked towards them.

"Do-don't you come near Kagome!" Shippo wiped his eyes and jumped from his friends warm embrace. He stood as tall as his forty three centimeters would let him but was still incapable of hiding his fear as teeth chattered and legs trembled.

"Move aside kit this has nothing to do with you." Shippo was right to cower as cold impassionate eyes bored down at him with un-relinquishing derision.

"Don't you dare get near Shippo chan." Kagome lunged forward and pulled the quivering kit to her chest once again.

"Humph" he gave a contented smirk. In the blink of an eye before either miko or child could react, the bandit had leaned over snatching the kit by the tail. "You can have this one back once we reach base."

Ignoring the protesting cries of Shippo, Yoko tossed fox child over his shoulder, keeping a firm grip on his fluffy tail the entire time.

"Hey wait a second! Let him go!" Kagome rushed to catch up with the retreating figure.

"As I said before you can get him back once we reach my hide out." All of this was spoke in a neutral tone, completely unaffected by the diminutive fists pounding upon his back.

A chill raced down her body, at the same time an unsettling resignation established itself within the pit of her stomach.

Realization set in.

She couldn't defeat this man, nor could she rescue her precious kit. With a cold impassivity she realized what she had to do. To protect that small flame of life, one so cherished in her heart, she would follow this man.

She would follow this demon into the lion's, err, foxes den.

**My deepest apologies for the long wait. I was kidnapped along the path of life and held hostage by that nasty history day business. Thumbs up to anyone who knows what I'm talking about. Gomen for the short (and suckish) chapter too, this just seemed like a good place to leave off. I swear upon my stack of Pandora Hearts manga that I will have another update up before the twenty third. Any who…..What was I going to say again? Ah well couldn't have been that important, ja ne.**


	8. Chapter 8

The weary sun struggled to shine through the dense fog of early morning as the wind carried along the stench of urban decay. Another typical morning in the thriving city of Tokyo.

A little ways off in a familiar grove of trees a team of Ogres were investigating the surrounding area. Collars drawn up to conceal their inhuman faces they shuffled around collecting soil samples, recording observations, or sketching out the perimeter of the area in question.

"George" whispered a creeping ogre, the only sound in the surprisingly noiseless surrounding. "I'm afraid Koenma Sama was correct in his assumptions." With trembling fingers he slowly brought a glass vial up to eye level. Clear liquid sloshed around inside swirling around little particles of softened earth. Even as the two creatures watched, the liquid became clouded, murky. Spreading out in thin neon blue ribbons it enshrouded the mixture assimilating it, starting from the particles of dirt.

"Oh my, Koenma isn't going to be pleased when he hears of this. What will he say when he learns that a miko walks among us once again?"

With that daunting thought a solemn George gathered his team and disappeared through a swirling vortex leaving behind neither hide nor hair of evidence that any one had disturbed the scene of the crime.

* * *

><p>"Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, Hiei." A grave Koenma began, pausing to acknowledge each boy as he said their name. "What I am about to tell you must not, I repeat, must not leave this room. Do you understand?" Each word was short, separated and over articulated. No chance at misinterpretation.<p>

"Yea yea we understand. Stop with the melodramatics already and just spit it out will you?" Yusuke huffed. He did nothing to hide his annoyance from the young lord if the crossed arms and the tapping foot was any indication.

"I'm deadly serious Yusuke. If word were to leak out of what I'm about to say it would lead to total chaos within the Makai. If you don't think you can keep your mouth shut about this speak up now and leave this room, you will be removed from this mission." Koenma stared, unrelenting until the fidgeting boy finally yielded.

"Yes I understand and I'll keep my mouth shut. Now care to explain what's got your diapers in a twist." The spirit detective rolled his eyes, tired of the theatrics.

"I need to get every ones word that they won't share this information with any one." His eyes bored into the skulls of Kurama, Hiei, and Kuwabara.

"What about Botan?" Kurama ventured a question. Relative of course considering she was their trans dimensional mode of transportation.

"She has already been briefed on the situation and sworn into secrecy. Now, your word if you'd please." Now it was Koenma's turn to contain his impatience.

"I, Shuichi Minamino swear to keep whatever information you disclose tonight in the strictest of confidence." The red head bowed with one tightly closed fist over his chest.

"Uh yea, what he said." Kuwabara mumbled scratching the back of his head, unable to come up with anything more eloquent.

"As the fox said I won't announce to the community whatever it is you spit out." Hiei glared at the silent figure. "Besides, who would I tell?"

"The highest bidder perhaps?" Koenma questioned.

"I don't go around selling information like some sniveling sneak." Not unless it benefitted him in any sort of way of course.

"I can never be sure when it comes to you Hiei. You care about no one but yourself, that doesn't make you one of the most trustworthy of people."

"Perhaps we should get back onto the topic of this latest assignment?" Kurama intervened.

"Yes, thank you Kurama. Now Yusuke, Kuwabara do you remember the girl you were telling me about. The one who killed the youkai you were sent to capture?"

"Yea the girl with the pretty black hair. What about her?" Kuwabara spoke up.

"Do you two remember how she killed it?" Koenma closed his eyes and tipped his head back. Maybe as a way to distance himself from this horrible reality that was about to unfold. There was no going back after this, nor could he ignore this problem. No, not this time.

"She shot it with some kind of pink spirit energy. The demon screamed and turned to dust." Yusuke replied in a bored fashion still not comprehending the severity of the situation.

"She purified the youkai. That girl was a miko." Koenma's head snapped back up to gauge the reactions of his detectives.

As predicted the news didn't seem to affect the two humans of the group in any way, shape, of fashion. Hiei went stiff, crimson eyes widening in disbelief. This was probably the closest thing to an expression of fear Koenma would ever see from the Jaganshi. Kurama remained as taciturn as ever, as emotionless as one of his roses.

"Is this supposed to mean anything important?" Yusuke broke through the silence. "What is a miko anyway?"

"A miko is the bane of youkai. Their very reason of being is to exterminate youkai." Hiei snapped out of his reverie and turned to stare at Yusuke. Well not directly at Yusuke, more like the wall right beyond his ear. "But mikos died out long ago without the threat of demons. Their descendants are nothing more than figureheads unable to comprehend the power their ancestors held."

"What?" Kuwabara asked more confused than he was in the beginning.

Kurama gave a sigh. "He's talking about shrine maidens. Mikos in title only, they hold no power these days. Not all mikos were evil though Hiei, I knew a miko whose goal was to make friends with just about every one she met."

Hiei burst into laughter, the deafening sound bouncing off the walls. "Non-demonic friend's maybe. Those narrow minded shrews would rather spit upon your grave and grind your bones into weapons than extend a hand in friendship."

"It was the Taijiya's that made weapons out of the bones of fallen youkai." His gaze fell to the floor. Taking a steadying breathe he continued. "She had demonic suitors after her hand and was in love with a hanyou of all things."

"Just how exactly is this a bad thing? So she can kill a few demons, I would have thought you'd be all after this girl trying to recruit her."

"Because Yusuke, if the demons in the Makai were to here of this do you know what kind of ruckus they'd create?" A rhetorical question but Yusuke still opened his mouth to try and answer. Cutting the delinquent off the young lord sped on. "They would try to break through the barrier to take her down, their only natural enemy. With all the attacks on the barriers holes would be made and there would be an increase of demons in the Ningenkai."

"Well what do you propose we do about it?" Yusuke asked in frustration. There were no leads to her whereabouts; they didn't even have her name.

"Capture her of course. Bring her in for questioning so we can bring to light as to how she ascertained these powers."

"How are we supposed to find her? Yusuke forgot to ask for her name." Kuwabara refused to look at Yusuke as he spoke.

"Hey you were there too, you could have asked for her name!" Yusuke gave an undignified yell.

"Shut up both of you!" Koenma yelled. The two boys immediately stopped to stare flabbergasted at the young spirit prince. "I don't have the patience to deal with your antics today. We've had our own suspicions in spirit world for quite a while you two just substantiated them. We have gathered enough research to pinpoint where a large amount of residue from potentially pure spirit energy resides."

"Potentially pure? Where the heck did you come up with that?" Hiei interrupted electing a glare of his own from the spirit prince.

"Yes potentially pure. It's hard to tell with all the taint surrounding Tokyo."

"If you had your suspicions why didn't you send any one out before to check it out?" Kuwabara asked. A simple solution to a simple problem in his mindset.

"Because! If we had word would have most likely leaked out leading to mass hysteria! Now that we have a confirmed threat you are the only people I can trust to get the job done!" You could hear a pin drop in the silence that resided.

"We understand. Where will your readings be taking us to?" Kurama stepped forward, the constant diplomat.

"You will all be heading over to the middle of Tokyo. To Sunset Shrine."

**Gomen Gomen I'm late. Sorry, I was dealing with a lot of boyfriend drama this week and didn't have any time to write. But here is your latest chapter. We'll be visiting the Inuyasha gang next chapter which will be out relatively soon (hopefully). Even faster if I get more reviews *wink wink*. Till next time ja ne.**


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